The steady decline in size and cost for digital camera modules results in ever more uses and installations of camera modules. Notebook computers, tablets, smart phones, and even some desktop monitors include a microphone and a camera near the display for use with video conferencing. Some designs have multiple microphones to help with audio noise reduction. Some designs have multiple cameras to provide depth sensing, and other effects. The currently most common camera modules use a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor or photodetector array which is sensitive to all colors of visible light and also to near infrared (NIR) light. As a result any inexpensive camera module may be converted to an infrared camera by removing the color filters and replacing the NIR blocking filter with an appropriate NIR pass filter.
Notebook computers are now providing an NIR camera together with the primary video camera. The NIR camera is provided for face log in but may be used for any other function with the appropriate software. As an alternative, a single camera may be configured to incorporate both NIR and RGB (Red Green Blue) visible light sensitivity. This allows both functions to be performed with a single camera module, but the result is larger than the standard primary camera with worse optical performance and more noise.
For clamshell and notebook form factors, a thin display (reduced Z-height) allows for a lighter, easier to use, and more attractive device. For monitors and displays, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) and advanced LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) technologies allow for even thinner desktop monitors. As these and portable devices compete for market share, two areas of competition are to reduce the thickness of the device and to reduce the width of the bezel. Thinner or flatter devices are perceived to be more stylish and in some cases fit more easily in slim pockets. Smaller bezels also allow more of the device to be used for the display which increases the ease in reading the display. In some cases, it allows a device with a small screen to be made even smaller for higher portability.